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Annual statistics

Statistics are provided for 30 June and 31 December year-ends.

The Court of Appeal is New Zealand’s principal intermediate appellate court. It is also the final appellate court for a number of matters. The Court deals with civil and criminal appeals from matters heard in the High Court and appeals from criminal jury trials in the District Court. Matters appealed to the High Court from the District Court and certain tribunals can be taken to the Court of Appeal with leave, if a second appeal is warranted. The Court may also grant leave to hear appeals against pre-trial rulings in criminal cases, and appeals on questions of law from the Employment Court.

The Court’s workload increased in 2017 with a total of 657 appeals and 231 applications filed. This is a 9 percent increase on total workload compared to 2016. The total number of appeals disposed (671) was a slight increase on the previous year’s disposals.

Criminal Jurisdiction

In the 2017 calendar year new criminal appeal filings increased by 13 percent (48 appeals) to 423 new appeals compared to 2016. Criminal applications decreased from 85 in the previous 12 months to 77 in 2017. Criminal appeal disposals increased by 3 percent (11 appeals) to 430 appeals disposed during 2017. As at 31 December 2017, the number of active criminal appeals decreased by 2 percent (5 appeals) to 251 active appeals compared to the previous year.

Civil Jurisdiction

In the 2017 calendar year new civil appeal filings increased by 9 percent (20 appeals) to 234 new appeals compared to the preceding 12 months. New civil applications increased by 12 percent from 137 to 154 applications. Civil appeal disposals decreased by 3 percent (7 appeals) to 241 appeals over the same period. As at 31 December 2017, the number of active civil appeals decreased by 1 percent (2 appeals) to 140 active appeals compared to the previous year.

NoteData is sourced from the Ministry's electronic Appeal Management System (AMS)